Angry Mamelodi East Phase 5 residents took the law into their own hands to punish a “gang member” on Monday afternoon.
The residents searched and located the alleged gangster they believed had been responsible for terrorising the community for a long time.
Rekord has been informed that the man was sjamboked but the police could not confirm this.
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Police spokesperson Captain Michael Mbewe said the police had no record of assault or the mob justice incident but he invited the “victim” to report the case to the station.
“We (police) discourage in the strongest possible terms such action… is unlawful to take the law into your own hands while we have the police.
“If there is suspicion of criminal activity the public is advised to report the crime to the nearest police station.”
He said the alleged action by the community could not be justified and they had to let the law take its cause.
“If a person or group of people commit such crimes, he/she will be caught and brought to justice.”
He said no one was above the law or had the right to beat up or kill someone else just because they committed a crime.
Mbewe said the right thing to do if residents arrested a person suspected of involvement in crime was to hand them over to the police.
However, the residents who wished to remain anonymous said they were tired of the man’s “crimes and we decided to deal with him”.
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The man, also believed to be a drug addict, had been accused of breaking into houses in the area for a long time and belonged to a group whose crime spree had terrorised the community.
They said the community caught up to the man in Mbeyane Street, Mamelodi East Phase 5 and “gave him a beating of his life” before forcing him to identify the place where the goods stolen in the house break-ins were kept.
The residents said they were aware that mob justice was against the law but “we were tired of opening a case against him then see him walking the streets the following day”.
“This was a lesson for all the criminals in the area that phase 5 residents are tired of people terrorising the community,” they said adding they had later let the man go.
Residents said calling the police “is just a waste of time”.
“We are not taking the law into our own hands, we actually fighting crime in our community,” they said.
Report any crime to the police or make use of the recently announced toll-free number: 082-771-1001 to report any crime.
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